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Ready to get your freezer cooking on? This weekend we’ll be talking about what you can freeze and how to make it work for you during the busy school year. Personally, I’ve got a major brain freeze this week as I’ve been editing the Cookbook manuscript all week.

Can’t wait to show you the book! It’s got over 200 recipes, 100 of which that I’ve never shared with the public. As I was scrolling through the chapters this week, I had flashbacks of all these fantastic meals, snacks, and desserts we’ve enjoyed over the last year. Potatoes Stuffed with Dubliner Cheese and Caramelized Onions? Yummy! Caramel Key Lime Bars? They rocked it, major big time. And Mocha Hot Fudge Cakes? Totally. Stay tuned….

Back to School Freezer Cooking

It’s time for school. By this time next week I think everyone will be back in the swing of things and the busy days of fall will be upon us. Since I am raising a bunch of hobbits, mealtimes are quite important around our house. But, if I’m going to survive teaching five grades AND feeding my family “nutritious and delicious” foods, I have to have a plan. Have to!

Your circumstances may be different, but I’d hazard a guess that a plan for feeding your clan would come in handy at your house, too. Here are some ways to make freezer cooking work for you as school gets under way:

1. Breakfast

Your freezer can help you get that most important meal of the day on the table in record plan. Some of my favorites?

One of the new things I’m instituting, hopefully this weekend, is a drawer with smoothie fixings. My dad bought us a Magic Bullet years ago. It makes it so easy for my bigger kids to make their own smoothies. Rather than set out a smoothie bar, I want to put together a smoothie drawer with bags of frozen fruit ready for the taking. I buy whey protein for my man-child to make smoothies for himself and this way he’ll be able to add whatever he wants whenever he wants for custom breakfast smoothies.

2. Lunch

While I don’t typically have a lot of brownbag items in the freezer, I do like to have the snacks covered. I bake up big batches of different items and package them so I can easily grab them for FishPapa’s lunches. While I don’t send my kids off everyday with a packed lunch, I do send my sweetie things like:

3. Dinner

We are entering a new era at our house as we work more extra-curricular activities into the fold of our day, like swimming, piano lessons, and hockey. I want to have quick dinners so I don’t spend half the evening trying to get food on the table.

My Cooking Plan

Those who know me in real life will nod their heads in agreement when I say that I can tend to develop some rather ambitious plans. Some, if they were honest, would call my efforts a little foolhardy. I tend to bit off more than I can chew. And so it is with my recent freezer cooking plan.

This is only a partial list, as I added more to it after the picture! Oy!

corn to freezer

blanch green beans

bag mozzarella cheese

chop bell peppers and freeze

cook ground beef/make meatballs

freeze bananas for smoothies

make baked oatmeal and freeze

zucchini bread

zucchini cupcakes

decorate cupcakes

soak beans

carnitas in crockpot

instant oatmeal

pumpkin muffins

make stew in bags

pesto

Um, yeah. And I added to it. AndI planned this all on my daughter’s birthday! If you didn’t think I was nuts before, you should now. Come back on Monday to find out…the rest of the story.

In the meantime, share your cooking plan with us in the comments section. Tomorrow, I have a great guest post coming from Once a Month Mom as well as a Freezer Cooking Q&A.

Comments

I’m really bad at the planning part… I hope to work on mine this week monday – wednesday. Tuesday is 10% off day at the store that I buy most of my meat, so I will get it then. I will buy some things at the farmers market tomorrow as well. This year I have a student staying with me for the school year, so I will definitely need to get back on track with my meal planning. I am just very bad at it though. Luckily I only really need to plan from monday – thursday. any suggestions you have would be great. It is just me, and I’m on a budget, and have chronic pain so I don’t want to spend too much time cooking. (I love eating though!!) today, I shredded a bunch of mozza cheese to keep in the freezer for pizza.. I’m going to try and make a menu today for the month of september. if i can get the suppers planned the rest should come easier. I hope…. !!!

September is here already! Time to put up the last of the fabulous summer produce. Today, along with peppers and squash, I picked up 4 doz ears of sweet corn and a bushel of “seconds” white peaches from our favorite farmstand. Total cost = $20. We can never have enough corn or summertime fruit and veggies in our freezer. It will be a busy weekend but, come February, wow, will it be worthwhile!
Thanks for the inspiration as always, Jessica!

Hi Stacy! I have made pesto [basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, no nuts] and put it in a deli container and froze it. You do have to pour some more oil over the top, to keep the basil from turning brown. It does keep in the fridge for about a week after you thaw it. I used mine for angel hair pasta and as a pizza topping…hope that helps

Welcome to Life as MOM! I'm FishMama, chief cook and bottle washer around here. I have six kids under 18, and I've lived to tell the tale. Want to know how to make the most out of what you have where you are? You've come to the right place.

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